Eternal Whisperings of a Cloudless Mind
by AveAtqueVale0
Summary: A strong-willed, straightforward Chelsea is washed up on the Sunshine Islands. However, a certain annoying rich boy seems determined to get in her way. Can she restore the islands and keep her heart to herself? Rated T for future chapters. Sucky summary:
1. Chapter 1

**Hello everyone! Welcome to my first fanfic!**

Disclaimer: I do not own Harvest Moon, although if I did I would be extremely happy. :)

* * *

><p>I woke up covered in seaweed and coughing up water. The sun coming up over the ocean nearly blinded me, and the gentle surf rising around my waist was bone chillingly cold. I was freezing; I needed to get inside, but where? My arms and legs were paralyzed with cold. <em>Where am I?<em> I wondered. All was deathly silent.

I was headed from the mainland to the Mountain Islands, where my parents lived. My father had been diagnosed with stage IV colon cancer. I knew he didn't have long, so I was headed there to see him and to help my mother cope. Everything went as planned, I packed my bags, bought passage aboard a steamship, and boarded. The only thing that I didn't plan for was Hurricane Beryl. She tossed the ship left and right, making me nauseous in my small berth. I dashed above deck, into the melee of seamen trying to get the ship under control. Things were falling left and right, and the deck was slick with rain. As I was vomiting over the edge, something must have hit me and knocked me out, causing me to fall overboard into the tumultuous ocean below.

Now I was stuck on this beach. Great. I stood up, pushing my tangled and wet hair behind me. I only made it about half a dozen paces from the sea before my legs gave out and I fell back down. Angered with my weakness, I began to drag myself forward. Suddenly, a pair of dark, calloused hands reached out and grabbed my shoulders. I struggled like a wet kitten.

"Woah, there! No need to struggle; you're among friends. I'm Denny. I like to fish," he explained, as I let him pull me to my feet. Denny wore a purple bandanna and purple fisherman's clothes, with a strange, penguin-like bird perched on his shoulder. I nodded.

"Thanks, I'm Chelsea Indigo. Where am I?" I unsuccessfully tried to brush the sand caked to my clothes off. Denny pulled my arm around his strong shoulders and began to help me walk away from the ocean.

"You're on Verdure Island, part of the Sunshine Archipelago. Hold your questions until we get everyone. They'll be so excited about today's 'catch'," Denny laughed. We began to slowly limp towards the center of the island.

* * *

><p>By the time we arrived at the center of town, we had attracted quite a group of followers. T<em>his island is actually much more populated than one would think,<em> I noticed. Before long, Denny was pounding on the door of a large, rectangular orange horse. A ruffled old man's voice rang out from inside.

"Denny, we don't care about the type of elusive fish you've caught today. Go show it to Lanna; then both of your eyes can glaze over while you marvel at its beauty. I honestly don't care-" The old man opened the door, and his expression instantly changed. "Oh. Unless it's a girl. Bring her in, quickly." The door shut behind us.

I was sitting in a chair, a blanket wrapped around my shoulders and a mug of something steaming clutched between my fingers before I could blink. A middle-aged woman with pink hair sat in the chair across from me, her expression soft. Behind her, two redheaded young adults about my age were arguing. The boy looked close to tears.

"Welcome, dear. I'm Felicia, and these are my children, Natalie and Elliot." The girl and boy straightened up. The boy walked toward the door and left. "You've already met my father, Taro. We run the shipping business on the archipelago."

The grizzled old man limped over to us. He looked me up and down.

"Looks strong enough," he muttered to himself. Then he looked at me. "Welcome to the archipelago. What happened to you?"

I briefly told him who I was and my story, and Taro nodded. "Thing is," the old man said, "Our islands are struggling. There are five of them currently: Ranch Island to the north, Lighthouse Island off of Ranch Island, Sprout Island to the east, Meadow Island to the west, and Verdure Island, where you are now. Long ago, people inhabited these islands. Back then, there were 14 islands. Then a great disaster occurred, casting those nine smaller islands into the watery depths of the ocean and the people to leave. We landed here about a year ago. We need to restore the islands, and we can't do that without the sun stones.

"Legend tells of 100 pieces of the sun, appropriately titled sun stones, scattered over the islands. Legend also says that these stones have the power to raise the rest of the islands and restore the archipelago to its former glory. Now let me ask: What do you know about plants?"

I shook my head.

"To be absolutely honest, nothing. But I like animals." Taro and Felicia lit up.

"Perfect! With my help, you'll be the best rancher in the whole world! I know this is kind of sudden, but whaddya say: will you be our rancher and help us fix the islands?" I pondered his request. It would be no walk in the park, but who was I kidding, I longed for a really good challenge. And this place was beautiful, unlike the big cities I had lived in on the mainland. Some part of me already felt grounded here.

"Sure, why not?" I grinned. Felicia and Taro patted me on the back and left me to think in the middle of their kitchen. Natalie walked over.

"I forgot to introduce myself earlier. I'm Natalie, as you heard. That pathetic excuse for a human being was my brother, Elliot. We can be friends if you want." She stuck out her hand. I shook it. The door blew open, and there stood a very tall, very blonde woman wearing short shorts, tan boots, and a baby blue men's dress shirt tied above her belly button. She looked at me, and her jaw dropped. She dropped the tomcat she was carrying and ran towards me. I stood up to meet her. Her arms went around me and squeezed.

"Chelsea!" she yelled.

"Julia!" I grinned back. After an eternity, she finally let go. Julia held me at arm's length.

"You look so good! And it's been so long!" With that, she pulled me back in for another bone crushing hug.

* * *

><p>Yay! First chapter's finished! *phew*<p>

What do you think? Please review; I'm always looking to improve my writing.

I'm open to suggestions, too!


	2. Chapter 2

Hello again! Welcome to installment number two of _Eternal Whisperings of a Cloudless Mind_.

This section may drag a bit, but bear with me because it is important to the story.

Read away! :)

* * *

><p>In the end, it always goes back to high school.<p>

Julia was your typical, popular girl who everyone adored. I was a quiet wallflower. Somehow, we connected. She became my best friend. We were good for one another-I taught her to look before she leapt, and she drew me out of my shell. She made me who I am today-no longer shy, and ready to speak my mind. For that, I was forever in her debt. However, at the end of senior year, Mirabelle, Julia's mother, decided she was tired of working in an office and was moving with her daughter to a remote island to start an animal trade business. We were heartbroken.

We tried to keep in touch, but it was so difficult. She wrote at first, but the letters were so expensive then because there was no shipping business on the island. I wrote back, whenever I got the chance. However, her letters became fewer and farther between, and finally correspondence was dropped altogether.

Flash forward three years, and that's where we were today.

* * *

><p>Of course, we were both crying by the time Mirabelle arrived. She pulled me in for a hug, then looked me up and down. She made a noise of irritation and said,<p>

"Chelsea! You're filthy! Come with me, dear, Julia and I will get you all fixed up." She and Julia bustled me out of Taro's house, while half-baked thank yous and promises to come back tomorrow spewed from my mouth. We walked east down a wide, paved road. We passed an oriental-looking house before we arrived at a brown barn-like house with red roofing and a grain silo attached to the side.

"Welcome to our home, Chelsea." Julia grinned. Their house was beautiful; clean and full of light. As I walked through the door, seven little kittens padded over, meowing. Julia began to call out to them by name. Mirabelle chuckled and shook her head.

"Julia's so good with the animals we have. She loves them so much. However, the poor girl seems to get very attached and cries whenever Vaughn takes them away," she explained. Seeing the look of confusion on my face, she explained, "Vaughn is my late brother's kid. he's an animal transporter. He's...a different sort of person, but his heart's in the right place." She seemed to remember how dirty and I cold I was, and the look of sadness on her homely face changed to one of concern. "That's right, we need to get you cleaned up. Julia," she beckoned, "Show Chelsea where she can shower."

The blonde danced over, and linked her arm with mine. She led me to her room, a small space at the rear of the house. Julia pushed me into the bathroom, grinned wickedly, and said,

"Strip." I took my boots, denim shorts, yellow tank and red jacket off, and with the help of a comb managed to get my red bandanna out of my stiff hair. Julia took the clothes away, while I showered and washed my hair. I got out of the shower and found a pair of pajamas waiting for me. I pulled them on, and even though it was 10 am, I climbed onto Julia's bed and promptly fell asleep.

A gentle rain tapping Julia's dark window the next morning aroused me. After pulling on my freshly laundered clothes, I walked back out into the kitchen. It was early, and a strange, white-haired man was asleep on the couch, seven kittens contentedly purring on his chest._ It's probably Vaughn_, I figured, and slowly slipped out the door. My body was sore. Ten years of martial arts had made me strong both mentally and physically, but yesterday my body had taken a beating of Biblical proportions.

I wandered as the rain slowed and eventually stopped, letting my feet take me where they willed. Suddenly, I found myself standing on a field. Snapping back to my senses, I examined. This was like a cleared field, with what I guessed to be about four acres of land. The dirt beneath my feet was wet. Off in the direction I wandered in from I saw a small, shack like building. The silence and the beauty of this wondrous place took my breath away. I fell to the ground, landing on my back. Through observant eyes I watched the sky turn from lilac, to pink, to yellow. By the time the sky turned blue, I was forever under these islands' spell, and I knew I would do everything in my power to restore them.

All of a sudden something landed in the soil next to my head. Taro looked down at me.

"it's beautiful, isn't it?" I nodded. Taro continued. "I think we'll get a start on your ranching today. Stand up, and we'll get to work."

* * *

><p>For the next many hours, Taro showed me everything I needed to do to grow plants. Under his instruction, I pulled the weeds, plowed the land, and sowed one bag of his turnips. It was wonderfully pleasing and incredibly simple. I thanked him profusely for his help.<p>

"Oh, it was nothing, little lady. Now let me show you your house." The grizzled old man limped over to the shack, unlocking the door and lighting a kerosene lamp. There was a small bed next to the wall and a little refrigerator in the corner next to me. A wobbly table stood on three legs in the center of my house, an old watering can perched on it. "Well, it's not much," Taro commented, "But the place has potential. And you could probably get the carpenter to upgrade it for you." Taro looked up at the grey sky. "Better go get yourself some seeds before it rains." He looked into my sapphire eyes and put the house key in my hand and folded my fingers over it. "Good luck, Chelsea."

I ran to the oriental shack, which I now knew was the general store. I purchased bags of potato seeds and turnip seeds. There was a freshwater stream nearby, so I stopped to fill my watering can. I was running back to my farm, seeds in rucksack and watering can in arms, when something went barreling into my side. I fell forward, spilling water all over myself and cutting my forehead. I was disoriented, lying in the middle of the road and blood running into my eyes when two arms in white pulled me to my feet. In my vertigo, I saw a horse and a boy dressed in white rushing to my aid.

"Oh, dear! Fair maiden, are you injured in any way possible? I apologize for running into you; Arthur has a mind of his own someti-" I cut him off, fuming mad.

"What is wrong with you, you numbskull? Obviously I was running there. Thanks for not paying attention. And I don't care if your freaking horse has 'a mind of his own', _you_ nearly ran me over while riding him. And now, I can't get home in time to plant these seeds, and this cut is going to need stitches. Who the crap to you think you are?"

I finally looked at the boy. He was wearing expensive shoes, snow white pants with an open suit jacket that was equally as pristine. Under that, he wore an orange hoodie and a black shirt. His angelic face and high cheekbones held large sky blue eyes, overflowing with concern. His white-blond hair fell across part of one eye, and hung on the back of his head down to mid neck. He stood there, looking at me, speechless. I intensified my glare, and he blushed a delicate red.

"I am," he said, "William Terry Louis Andrew Carrick Jonathan Dredge Hams Reading Roger Southwark Alwick Plymouth Junior Regison III. But I would prefer Will."

* * *

><p>And there's Chapter 2!<p>

As always, read and review-I want to know what you think!

Hopefully Chapter 3 will be up in the next few days.

Thanks!


End file.
